How I Write Short Stories | 5 Writing Tips For Beginners

[@wrestlingwithwords]

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[@stevecarter8810]

Love that your attention is on the process rather than the output. Too many writing channels just hit you over the head with the act structure or warn you about gotchas. To have a sketch of the stages of birth and exploration over drafts was helpful and inspiring.

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

I find the best word for locating the essence (if we are talking about the same thing) is exploration, the word you used frequently here, but not exclusively. A murder mystery is an exploration for all the characters of some aspect of that crime, for tighter writing, the same aspect. For example, it could be the injustice of the event and how each character reacts to that injustice. And understanding that essence really helps to stay focused on the same thing throughout, much better than a character arc, which is for only one character, and the character arc may have nothing to do with the essence. Perhaps the character arc is becoming mature enough to handle the inheritance. Short stories mentioned: Shirley Jackson - The Lottery Ted Chiang - Exhalation Isaac Asimov - The Last Question Ernest Hemingway - For Sale: baby shoes, never worn Terry Bisson - They're Made out of Meat Tim O'Brien - The Things They Carried The only objection is I think the title would have been better as 'setting out to write' instead of 'writing' as this is more the planning stage more than the editing stage. I will have to rewatch it to go deeper. Some nice points. Congratulations on the awards.

[@wrestlingwithwords]

Thank you for the comment! And yes, you are on the correct track. Character arcs, themes, and the essence and sometimes talked about and lumped together as all the same thing. Essence is sometimes like the combination of arcs and themes--for instance, the theme of a story might be 'Revenge is Bad', the arc your main character goes through is something positive like learning to forgive their advisory, and the essence is 'Love is Stronger than Hate'. This is all abstract because we aren't looking at something specifically, but I hope you get where I am coming from! Thank you again for watching and for the comment!

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

@@wrestlingwithwords Yes, it was very understandable. I commented on the exploration because it is something few are talking about (I've seen it only once before) and it really helps with bringing the story together and finding the audience. It is something that should be talked about more.

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

@@wrestlingwithwords When someone asks what your story is about, what they really want to hear is that essence, 'It explores how people react to xxx.' Of course, if it is a a genre piece, like a superhero adventure or romance, then that may be the full extent of the story: the superhero or love wins out. I realised in the last week that we write literary fiction, so different rules apply, like the existence of character arcs. Not saying that a genre piece cannot have a character arc, but those readers are not looking for one. They want an escape, period.

[@wrestlingwithwords]

@@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve Exactly! We understand each other!

[@wrestlingwithwords]

@@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve, yeah, I don't see much discussion of a story's essence, which is why I find myself mentioning it so much!

[@simplewrites]

"Anyone can write a lot. The trick is to write well." -Me In all seriousness, this was a very well-made and informative video. My personal favourite type of "story form" is the novella. Short enough to get by relatively quickly but also long enough to be detailed and thought-provoking. I like to think of it as a novel distilled down to its core. Will you make a video about novellas? It's not a very explored topic compared to short stories and especially novels.

[@wrestlingwithwords]

Thank you so much for the kind words and for watching! I would love to talk more about novellas-they also are something I am particularly fond of too. I’ll considering talking more about in a future video!

[@simplewrites]

@wrestlingwithwords Thank you. I have a suggestion/request. Can you mention that having a limited word count can be very good for practicing writing. Like I said, anyone can write a lot and novels can be as long as the writer wants them to be. But a novella demands more skill in some aspects because you can't just stretch a story out to fill gaps. Having a limit makes the core of your story take center stage as opposed to being a side thought, at least in my mind. Again, thank you for reading my comment

[@cash1833]

So glad to see you back! And always, great advice!

[@wrestlingwithwords]

So glad it was helpful! And yes, very glad to be back!

[@WriterNumber3950]

He's back!

[@Ang-gh3iy]

Such a well thought out video, and at the perfect time! I’m trying to write a short story to change things up. Thank you!

[@wrestlingwithwords]

Thank you so much for watching! I'm glad it was helpful! Keep us posted on your writing!

[@Steerpikey]

Started watching this video with mistrust, but you got me hooked with “essence”. Definitely going to my writing desk after I finish this video.

[@wrestlingwithwords]

Thank you for sticking around and watching!

[@Lswat717Ent]

Keep up with the great content and the passion and keep staying positive

[@wrestlingwithwords]

Thanks!

[@emberise2319]

I am a beginning writer and found your advice very helpful. Thanks 😁

[@wrestlingwithwords]

Thank you for watching! Keep at it!

[@emberise2319]

@ I will! I hope the best for you as well.

[@xChikyx]

i go to a writing group, and last session a woman presented a short story with 0 conflict. I was the only one who commented on it, and everyone else was saying that a short story doesn't need to have conflict, that it's not necessary...

[@wrestlingwithwords]

Without reading the story myself it is hard to know why there might not be any conflict. I have seen people make this argument for autobiographical works or retellings of actual events and sometimes lit-fiction. However, usually, when it comes to fiction (and modern genre fiction especially) some conflict is needed and is to be expected.

[@Rrrrrrrehaaaw]

The Kishotenketsu method doesn't rely on conflict to drive the narrative (though it can have it) and it's widely used. It's not a requirement. Jokes typically don't run on conflict, either, and they are by far the most common form of short story in western culture.

[@maokai09]

Thank you

[@wrestlingwithwords]

Thank you for watching!

[@poloDhTip]

Thanks for the video 😊

[@wrestlingwithwords]

Thank you for watching!

[@SaintJames14]

Damn what time does bro wake up????

[@wrestlingwithwords]

Upload schedule was a bit off today 😅...

[@JCarrera_ll]

He doesn't sleep, so in truth he never wakes up

[@wrestlingwithwords]

@@JCarrera_ll 😅

[@deelynn8611]

it is easy. But it takes a lifetime of reading thousands of books and "feeling' how the grammar should go. Without college, it's harder to learn it yourself, but not impossible. Depends how bad you want to learn it.

[@wrestlingwithwords]

I do agree with you, but that does take a considerable amount of work, don’t you think? The answer might seem easy, but doing that takes a great deal of commitment!

[@casbienbarr]

oh yeah i mean, i can write you 5 short YA Fanfics full of grammar and spelling errors, terrible pacing and 1D chracters.

[@wrestlingwithwords]

True!! 😂

[@xdmomentum8346]

To anyone reading this, there is a loving God who wants to save you. And because He loves us, He (Jesus) died on the cross and resurrected 3 days later so we can be forgiven of our sins and be saved. Repent and believe the Gospel! Please think about the state of your soul, don't let this chance pass you by. Believe in Jesus and follow Him so you may have salvation. Life is short, please make the right choice today before its too late. Jesus loves you.

[@VikktorBorisov]

There is no right way to do anything in this life, don't waste your time watching videos. go read and write.

[@wrestlingwithwords]

I don't think I was suggesting this video as a replacement for reading and writing. I appreciate the comment and encouragement, but I think this sentiment is far from what I have ever encouraged.